Xigmatek HDT Red Scorpion S1283

Xigmatek's Red Scorpion cold easily be the twin brother of the Dark Knight S1283 heatsink from the same manufacturer. 

It's identical in every way, and has the same tower shape with aluminium fins, solid construction, and, above all, a series of heatsinks making direct contact, rather than a copper plate to move heat from the processor.


The difference between the models, though, is the fan that's used.  On the Dark Knight, the idea was to provide as much cooling power as possible, but here, the aim is to keep the CPU cool as quietly as possible. 

That's why the Red Scorpion's fan turns more slowly, with speeds ranging from 800 to 1500 rpm in place of the 1000 to 2200 rpm on the Dark Knight. 

In design terms, the fan blades are now made from a translucent orange material, illuminated by four whiteLEDs that gives the whole thing a rather enthusiast look.

Quiet Fan

Despite the fact that the fan makes less noise, the red Scorpion still manages to cool better than the most other heatsinks we've seen.  It's more than capable of keeping every type of CPU cool without making too much noise. Indeed, this is a remarkably quiet heatsink. 

With the fan at half-speed and below, it's hard to hear anything at all, although even the Red Scorpion can't remain entirely silent when the fan is turning at full speed, at which point it does become noisy.